Richa Chadha And Ali Fazal’s Wedding: A Love Story Told Across Three Cities

The final reception of Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal’s wedding celebrations took place inside a former cotton mill in Byculla, Mumbai. With exposed brick walls and high ceilings, it was quite the epitome of industrial chic, but not what you’d expect from a celebrity wedding. But that’s what Chadha and Fazal had wanted all along.

“We wanted to work with what was already there rather than turn every city into the same backdrop,” Chadha told Outlook Traveller.

By the time the couple arrived in Mumbai in October 2022, their wedding had already taken place in Delhi and Lucknow. They had married under the Special Marriage Act in 2020, but the pandemic delayed the larger celebrations for more than two years. When those celebrations finally happened, they built the wedding around three cities that had shaped their lives.

Delhi belonged to Chadha’s childhood and old friendships. Lucknow held Fazal’s family history and cultural inheritance. Mumbai was where their worlds had converged through cinema. The route between them became less an itinerary and more a map of the relationship.

“We were already married, so this was never about making anything official,” Chadha said. “It was about bringing our people together and allowing each place to tell a different part of the story.”

Delhi came first. The sangeet unfolded in a close friend’s garden, lending the evening a more relaxed, personal rhythm, followed by dinner at the Delhi Gymkhana Club, whose old-world architecture and long institutional history gave the gathering a sense of occasion without feeling overly staged. For Chadha, both settings brought the celebrations back to the city she had known as a child.

Delhi made its presence felt through the food served to guests. Chole bhature from Rajouri Garden, Natraj-style chaat, Ram laddoo, and shahi tukda, prepared by traditional halwais, turned the menu into a memory of Delhi’s streets rather than a generic wedding buffet.

“There are foods you grow up with that become part of how you remember the city. I wanted people to feel that recognition when they came to eat at my wedding,” said Chadha.

After Delhi, the celebrations moved to Lucknow, where Fazal’s family has its roots. Hosted at Saraca Estate, the setting allowed that history and connection to the city to remain visible. Built in the 1930s, the restored bungalow is arranged around courtyards, terraces and open verandahs. Its architecture features Art Deco influences and local craft details, including door handles inspired by the wooden blocks used in textile printing. Golden drapes, candlelit chandeliers, and music complemented the property's character.

“There is a grace to Lucknow that we couldn’t have replicated anywhere else,” said Chadha. “It was important that Ali’s family and the culture he comes from were not reduced to a theme.”

A Qawwali performance by the Sabri Brothers provided the evening with a musical anchor, while the meal drew on Awadhi traditions. The hotel’s culinary team worked with Mahmoodabadi Caterers, a family-run operation dedicated to preserving old Nawabi recipes.

The couple’s clothes carried the same regional vocabulary. Chadha wore an off-white kurti and gharara with chikankari and mukaish work; Fazal wore a muted gold-beige tussar silk sherwani with resham embroidery.

By Mumbai, the reception brought together friends, family and colleagues from the film industry at The Great Eastern Home in Byculla. The 176-year-old former cotton mill, now converted into a space for art, antiques and design, connected Mumbai’s industrial history with the creative world in which both had built their careers.

Mumbai, Chadha said, was where their lives had finally come together. The reception, therefore, needed to feel like the city they knew: “layered, creative and a little unexpected.”

A multi-city wedding can easily turn into a chain of unrelated functions. Here, the connection came from allowing each place to remain distinct. Delhi brought memory and appetite. Lucknow brought inheritance and ceremony. Mumbai brought the life they had made together.

The Wedding Coordinates

Pin Drops

Delhi, Lucknow and Mumbai

The Clincher

Three cities connected to different parts of their lives

Destination Advantage

Every celebration could take on the character of its setting

Local Touch

Delhi street food, Awadhi cuisine and Lucknowi chikankari

Main-Character Moment

The heritage evening at Saraca Estate

Take-Us-Back-For

A wedding journey through three versions of home

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